What medicines should I always have I stock?

[SamiWolfee]

What are the most important treatments I should always have stocked?


Sami ????? I ? My ?

 

[dalto]

Unless you are commonly importing wild caught fish I would recommend focusing on prevention rather than medication. I don't know how many fish I have purchased over the years but definitely in the thousands. I can count the number of times I have had to medicate fish on one hand excluding Ich.

Prevention for me comes in a few key steps:
1 - Maintain good water quality by keeping up with appropriate sized regular water changes.
2 - Carefully observe all the fish in the tank before buying anything from it. If there something wrong with any of the fish do not buy from it.
3 - If a store uses a filtration system that moves water between tanks avoid buying there if you can. If you can't be sure to quarantine an fish you get from there for a minimum of 2-4 weeks.
4 - Maintain good water quality by keeping up with appropriate sized regular water changes.

In summary, I don't keep any medications on hand.

 

[BBradbury]

Treating with Chemicals

What are the most important treatments I should always have stocked?


Sami ????? I ? My ?

Hello Sam...

I would say you don't need to stock any medications. Putting chemicals into the tank water is risky at best, because you don't know how your fish, plants and even the good bacteria will react.

If you keep your tank water clear of dissolved wastes with large, weekly water changes and feed a little of a balanced diet of flakes, freeze dried and frozen foods every day or two, your fish and plants will take care of themselves.

B

 

[Fishanatic]

Hello Sam...

I would say you don't need to stock any medications. Putting chemicals into the tank water is risky at best, because you don't know how your fish, plants and even the good bacteria will react.

If you keep your tank water clear of dissolved wastes with large, weekly water changes and feed a little of a balanced diet of flakes, freeze dried and frozen foods every day or two, your fish and plants will take care of themselves.

B

Agreed most of the time, good care will suffice with heat and in some cases salt (such as epsom)

 

[Delapool]

Well it seems I will be in the minority

Stores here are open every day so generally speaking I can just dash out for basic meds if/when needed. Some antibiotics I need to order from US and I keep those on hand. So knowing what meds do what and where/when you can get them I find most important. Some meds can go toxic past expiry date so something also to be aware of.

Salt I think is a good one to have. I have plants so I also have a QT. I'd buy a QT setup (even just a bucket) as highest priority.

Ich can be solved with heat method or meds. Either way for ich and for other parasites I find there is time to go to a lfs.

A fungal and anti-bacterial med I do think are worthwhile to carry as they can pop up fairly quickly. There are products that will do both so depending where you are just needs some research.

 

[Matt68005]

You can't expect us to just give you a list of medicine and what it used for, learn it on your own, weve spent YEARS learning it, you gotta do some reading up on your own, can't seriously just expect us to sum up fish disease in a paragraph along with what you need....

 

[nataliedd]

Ok just felt I had to point our that your response is quite rude. Forums like this are for people to receive advice and support. If all people had the attitude "learn it yourself" then forums like this would be no use. Of course we should all be researching ourselves but sometimes it's good to check what other people think/ advice. Your response may have been better worded " it's not possible to advise on this without knowing the disease etc" . Just a thought..........

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[nataliedd]

You can't expect us to just give you a list of medicine and what it used for, learn it on your own, weve spent YEARS learning it, you gotta do some reading up on your own, can't seriously just expect us to sum up fish disease in a paragraph along with what you need....

Forgot to quote........

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[Fishanatic]

You can't expect us to just give you a list of medicine and what it used for, learn it on your own, weve spent YEARS learning it, you gotta do some reading up on your own, can't seriously just expect us to sum up fish disease in a paragraph along with what you need....

This forums is not only for experienced members but also to seek knowledge. And yes, if he wants others people advice and expertise, he is allowed. Please raffine your use of tact before posting such things.

 

[Delapool]

What are the most important treatments I should always have stocked?


Sami ????? I ? My ?

Perhaps a more specific question or narrowing down a bit if possible? (Never thought I'd say that).

It's just imo that you have to tailer meds to each situation and well, what cost are you willing to go to. Plus are they needed / could they make it worse.

These two are my favourite links but don't cover everything. I guess what I'm coming at is identification is 90%. If you know what the problem is, a solution (although it may not be effective) is quickly possible.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_palace/tropicalfish_disease_identification.html

Edit - hope that makes sense. It's late and got my leg bitten by a dog while I was out riding so taken some tablets.

 

[dalto]

What are the most important treatments I should always have stocked?

You can't expect us to just give you a list of medicine and what it used for, learn it on your own, weve spent YEARS learning it, you gotta do some reading up on your own, can't seriously just expect us to sum up fish disease in a paragraph along with what you need....

All the OP asked for was a list of medication that he might want to have on hand ahead of time. He didn't ask sum up fish diseases or even ask what the medications are used for.

It doesn't seem like an unreasonable request, nor does it seem like relating it to giving him your car or your wife makes any kind of sense. I honestly am having trouble seeing where you are coming from here.

The whole purpose of this place is to help people.

 

[aqua_holic]

You can't expect us to just give you a list of medicine and what it used for, learn it on your own, weve spent YEARS learning it, you gotta do some reading up on your own, can't seriously just expect us to sum up fish disease in a paragraph along with what you need....

They didn't ask you for anything. If you don't want to share your hard earned knowledge then don't - that's your prerogative. But don't put the OP down for wanting to learn. Noob?? Seriously? This isn't some fraternity that you have to pay your dues to get in. We are here to give freely the knowledge we've accrued, or to draw upon that knowledge. I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to freely share their knowledge. Learn it on your own??? Come on man, just what do you think is the purpose of the forum?




There are only so many types of ailments you will run into. Fungus, bacteria and parasite are the main three. It's a good idea to have meds on hand for those 3 problems. There are multiple types of treatments for each type though, so it's not as cut and dry.

Antifungal meds are what they are, as far as I know.

Parasites are divided by internal and external. For internal there is prazipro, which is readily available. There are others that are not as available. Then there are external. I'm a fan of quick cure.

Antibiotics are either gram positive or gram negative. Or they are broad spectrum (both). Most issues are gram negative. They are expensive and expire, though, so you don't want to load up on all the different kinds. I would have a gram negative on hand, or a broad spectrum.

That is a good rundown of things to consider. That'll be $0.02 please.

 

[trennamw]

I'd agree with Dalto ... Whose statistics on healthy fish are also impressive ... Focus on understanding really good fish care.

I'd always be concerned having meds on hand leads to too much "just in case" dosing. Or trying it for a few days then stopping. Inappropriate antibiotic use can do more harm than good.

Even in humans, research is suggesting that the presence of absence of a fungus/bacteria/virus isn't usually what provokes an illness illness. If you watch health headlines, more and more points to inflammation, and a balanced population of bacteria and fungi and viruses (oh my) that keep each other in check.

Also in humans we keep finding situations such as sinus infections where, though antibiotics seem appropriate, in depth studies show that there isn't a better outcome giving antibiotics vs other interventions. And a run of antibiotics is often followed by other illnesses because everything is then out of whack.

As often as I've heard that fish and humans have similar physiology, I'm going to stick with my doctors summary that antibiotics are for emergencies only.

Considering our fish can't drive through mcdonalds or sit in front of the tv, clean living should be pretty easy for them. Clean water, low stress, decent food ...

\end soapbox.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Delapool]

And fair enough to

That's why imo you need a treatment plan. There's lots of stuff that I think counts as meds. Extra water changes, stress coat - right though to antibiotics.

So maybe for ich we would say treat with heat and salt (as an example). That's all you need in the 'cupboard'. But you have a fixed temp heater and you have a beautifully planted tank. Or you have just had columnaris go through the tank, bought more fish and these had ich. The columnaris could still be present and a temp increase may set it off.

Edit - oops, had a large lizard pop up in backyard and hit reply early. Short intermission!

So anyways I'm not knocking the heat method for treating ich as it's very effective. Just that it's hard to have a one size fits all treatment approach even for something as relatively common as white spot. Better to have a range of treatment options.